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It is important to point out that not all persons who call themselves Chicano automatically share the radical views described above. The term has become quite generalized and is widely used as just another name for Mexican-Americans, the majority of whom would be aghast at such ludicrous irredentist ideas.

First of all, all these labels-Hispanic, Latino, Chicano-are confusing to many in the mass media and the general public who don't seem to know when and how to use them, or who seem think there is a precise way to employ them that they are not aware of.8 Various film festivals around the United States use Latino, such as the prestigious Chicago Latino Film Festival and the Los Angeles International Latino Film Festival. Spanish, Brazilian, and Portuguese films are routinely included in the Chicago event, as well as U.S.-made "Latino" movies.9

But often the terms are ascribed to both American and foreign films, as if they were all essentially the same. In fact, it is obvious that "Latino" is an umbrella term encompassing all the diverse communities within the United States of Latin American origin.10 It is also favored by politicians and social activists because it gives the impression that there is a monolithic "Latino" population in the country, which will convince the national government and both the Democratic and Republican parties that it is a potent political force. And, more confusingly, it is occasionally used to encompass Latin America and even Spain. Jim Hoagland, a prominent Washington Post columnist who writes about foreign policy once actually referred to "Asians, Africans, and Latinos."

Consequently, film distributors and producers have difficulty defining this "market." Activist actors, directors, and producers such as Edward James Olmos, Gregory Nava, and Moctesuma Esparza insist there is a culturally unified Latino public that clamors for Latino films (that is, their films). Olmos, Nava, and Esparza are Mexican-Americans and pretty much focused on California and the Southwest. They also express the Chicano ethos of victimization, discussed above. Their use of the term Latino also indicates that it is now favored over "Chicano," which they were using a few years ago. Olmos, who is a good actor when he wants to be (such as in Caught, Robert M. Young's acclaimed 1996 remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice), is involved in many good causes to benefit poor children and education. But he has also converted himself into a spokesman and advocate for all "Latinos," including those "outside" the United States. He produced a public television program bringing together many Latin artists interpreting a variety of Latin American music styles. He also promotes the Los Angeles Latino Film Festival because he apparently feels that if he doesn't do it, the American public will ignore Latin American, Spanish, and, of course, U.S. Latino films, which are his major concern.

In a 1992 interview with a Mexican film magazine, Olmos claimed that American Me (1992), a violent prison drama which he directed and starred in, was "first seen by Mexicans (in Los Angeles), then the Central Americans of Los Angeles, the Puerto Ricans and Dominicans of New York, later the Cubans of Florida. And now Chicano movies are watched by all Latinos." He made these statements to an audience that had little idea of their accuracy. Indeed these are exaggerated claims for a film that did poorly at the box office.11

Latino or "Latin-themed" films are Hollywood productions in English, set in the United States, and made by Latino directors and with the leading roles played by Latino actors. The great majority have been by and about Mexican-Americans: Robert M. Young's The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1982, an overwrought plea for bilingual education), Selena (1997, a biography of the murdered Texano singer), Zoot-Suit (1981 film about the 1940s anti-Mexican riots in Southern California), Tortilla Soup, El Norte (about Guatemalan illegal immigrants, but full of Mexican characters), Mi Familia (1995, a Mexican-American family saga), The Milagro Beanfield War (a 1988 film based on John Nichols's novel and directed by Robert Redford-a "Latino" film?), American Me, Stand and Deliver (1987, about a Bolivian math teacher in Los Angeles and his Mexican-American students), and a few others.

The only exception is Leon Ichaso, a Cuban-born producer and director, whose films reflect the concerns of East Coast Cubans and Puerto Ricans. His first film, El Super (1979), was a gentle comedy about Cuban exiles in cold and snowy New York dreaming of moving to the warm weather of Miami. Crossover Dreams (1985) was a standard backstage drama about a salsa singer (Ruben Blades) trying to make it in the New York music scene. In 1996, he made the Spanish-language Azucar amarga, an anti-Castro film that was so skillful in its use of actors and shooting locations (Florida and the Dominican Republic) that many people were fooled into thinking it was a Cuban film (in spite of its obvious critical posture toward the Cuban regime). In 2002, Ichaso released Piñero, about a New York Puerto Rican ghetto poet, playwright, and convict. His are the only "Latino" films that do not reflect a Mexican-American or "Chicano" perspective.

Most of the Mexican-American-oriented films have not done well at the box office, and many prominent Latinos insinuate non-too-subtly that the reason for this is that the American public is somehow biased. But victimization and the consequent implied denunciation of cultural repression by the majority American society are the undertones that run through a number of these films. Olmos, who has appeared in many of them, habitually projects a scowling, angry demeanor in the characters he plays, so that they do not differ much from each other. The proponents of Latin-themed films do not accept such factors in the overall non-acceptance of these films. But mainstream audiences do not generally like being made to feel guilty.

 

NOTES AND REFERENCES

 

8.In 1996, I exchanged emails with the late Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert about this labeling. Siskel had referred to American Latin-theme films-A Walk in the Clouds, Mi Familia, and Caught-as "Latin American films." Gene graciously replied: "Thanks for your hyperbolic response to what you accurately guessed was a slip of the lip. Yes, I do know the difference between Latino and Latin American. And you were right to gently chastise Roger for allowing the slip to occur in his presence." Email, October 23, 1996. Gene Siskel's intelligence and humor is still missed, although he has a worthy successor in Richard Roeper.

9.Inclusion of foreign films in these events might actually be detrimental to their chances of getting U.S. distribution. Some distributors might assume since they are in a "Latino" film festival that they wouldn't appeal to general audiences.

10.Except in New Mexico where many Spanish-surnamed residents fantasize that they are direct descendants of the 16th century conquistadores and insist on thinking of themselves as "Spanish" to differentiate themselves from Mexicans whom they think are all Indians. In 1998, at the University of New Mexico during a screening of the Mexican film Cabeza de Vaca with the director, Nicolás Echevarría present, an elderly gentleman monopolized the post-screening discussion claiming he was a direct descendant of Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca who in 1557 died childless in Seville.

The state of New Mexico, with a population of about a million and a half with approximately 40% being Hispanic, through its media persistently exaggerates its national and even international political, historical, and cultural significance in Hispanic matters, occasionally successfully promoting itself. For instance in the late 1990s, a group of New Mexico Hispanic politicians and community leaders decided the state needed a "Cultural Center." Named the National (to facilitate fundraising) Hispanic Cultural Center of New Mexico (giving the impression that there's a whole series of such facilities in the other states), the $34 million facility was inaugurated in October 2000 in Albuquerque. Republican Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico enthusiastically declared that people from "all over the world" would come to the facility to learn about "Hispanic culture." Funds were raised from large corporations such as Intel, Disney, and Wells Fargo. Its organizers convinced the Spanish government to open a small branch of the Cervantes Institute (which brought Crown Prince Felipe de Borbón for the inauguration).

Whatever attention the Center received from the Spanish government was likely due to the promotional activities of U.S. Ambassador to Spain Edward Romero, appointed by the Clinton administration. A prominent New Mexico businessman and contributor to the state Democratic Party, Romero arrived to take over his post in Madrid touting an "ancestor" who left Spain in the 1580s and was among the first settlers of New Mexico in 1598. Whether any of the numerous other Romeros in New Mexico (including several politicans and a boxer) and the United States shared this impressive ancestry, the Ambassador did not say. As of 2002, the lavish facility, built mostly with taxpayers' money and which is part of the New Mexico state museum system, was having trouble attracting visitors. It is also located in an economically depressed area of Albuquerque, which is discouraging to visitors. The NHCCofNM generally mounts art exhibits of local and national artists and screens Mexican and Spanish films, often without subtitles which also discourages attendance.

In the spring of 2002, Tom Chavez, retired director of the Museum of New Mexico in Santa Fe, was appointed director of the Center. He promised to clarify its mission and raise $2 million to complete a Performing Arts Center. He stated his first task is to define what "Hispanic culture" is and what aspect of it the Center is showcasing. Incidentally, the term "Latino" is generally not favored in New Mexico where "Hispanic" is the label of preference.

11.CARRO, Nelson, "Edward James Olmos: un mexicano en Hollywood, Dicine, November 1992, p. 21. The title of the article is misleading, because Olmos is American and not Mexican.